108 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Fes., 1902. 
I am a believer in bees, and frequently suggest beekeeping in large 
orchard areas. I think their work in securing a set of fruit far outweighs the 
little mischief they may cause on ripe examples. And after all, if lack of suitable 
food is really at the bottom of their raid, why not feed the bees? Deliberately 
sacrifice a few juicy fruits to them, or a few pans of sugar water or diluted 
molasses. Or plant a clover patch where they can get it, or buckwheat, or 
whatever else may be in honey-yielding condition when the fruits ripen; but 
keep the bees by all means. The trees need them. 
Against this, we have a statement in another American journal that bees 
injure pears by spreading the pear blight, and its verdict is—“ Get rid of the 
bees—put them five miles away from the orchard.” 
Do our Queensland orchardists and apiculturists not study this question? 
It is natural to suppose that they are as competent judges as American fruit- 
growers. The latter, however, differ from their conjréres in Queensland in that 
they are constantly investigating for themselves, and they are only too glad 
to publish the results of their investigations. They make experiments in apt, 
horti-, agri-, and every other culture—they invent little labour-saving appliances, — 
and give them to the world. We seem to be content to follow where they lead. — 
We rarely take the initiative. This is not as it should be. Our agriculturists | 
are quite as intelligent as any in the world, as witness the small farmer who, 
years ago, invented the first corn husker and sheller ever seen in Queensland, — 
or he who invented the cane-planting machine not long ago. 
We should like to see our farmers study things out for themselves, and — 
give the results to the many newspapers which gladly give space to such 
matters. 
A LARGE MANGO. 
The October Bulletin of the Trinidad Botanical Department describes @ _ 
yery large mango produced on a seedling mango-tree of the “‘ Gordon” type- 
The fruit measured 7°5 inches in length and 4°5 inches in diameter, and was 
of excellent flavour. Compare this with the mulched shrivelled specimens 
exhibited for sale as mangoes in the Brisbane fruit shops. Yet there are several — 
growers in Southern Queensland who have grown mangoes larger than the 
Gordon. Such fruit, however, rarely finds its way into the market. The — 
mangoes of North Queensland are noted for their size and excellence, but the — 
Southern market price does not offer sufficient inducement to ship them in | 
_ quantity. 
PROTECTION FOR ORANGE-TREES. 
Last month a correspondent asked for information as to how to protect 
his orange-trees from frost. Here is an idea propounded by an American 
Professor of Horticulture. A farmer writes on the subject as follows to the 
Florida Agriculturist :—While the past winter was not one to stimulate interest 
in “ protection,’ it may not come amiss to give my experience with the 
“triangular” or combined windbrake and fire idea advanced by Professor 
McKinley in his very valuable paper, read before the Florida Horticultural 
Society in 1900. 
Asa sample of my experiments, I will take a tree with spread of 6 feet and 
10 feet high. The material used was re-sawed 1-inch cull cypress boards, made 
into sections 5 x 8 feet, using three 1 x 3 cleats, preferably of pine. 
I adopted the four-sided form as most satisfactory, though excellent results 
were obtained with the three-sided form on small trees and the five-sided form 
on larger ones. ; ; 
Rough sketches attached may give an idea of the construction and use of 
this method. One of the sections is placed on end, facing the north-west, and 
